Religiosity, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among Latino Adults

Background & Purpose. While studies suggest there is a high level of unmet mental health need among Latinos, the research exploring how cultural assets can be leveraged to promote positive mental health outcomes is limited. Specifically, despite the importance of religion in Latino culture, there is little research exploring the relationship between religiosity, mental health, and substance use. To address this gap, the present study used a nationally representative sample of Latino adults to assess the association between the importance of religious beliefs and the following mental health indicators: level of psychological distress (PD); the lifetime occurrence of a major depressive episode (MDE); and alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUDs). It was hypothesized that religious beliefs would be protective, with increased importance associated with lower levels of psychological distress and lower odds of having MDE or alcohol or another SUD.

 

Methods. Data were obtained from the aggregated 2011 through 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) public use datasets. Individuals self-identifying as Latino and ages 18 and older were selected for the analyses, yielding an analytic sample of 18,024. Importance of religious beliefs was assessed by a one-item, 4-point scale with scores of 4 indicating high importance. The K6 screening scale scores (0-24) assessed PD, and DSM-IV-TR criteria were used to generate diagnoses for MDE, alcohol, and other SUDs. OLS (PD) and logistic (MDE, alcohol and other SUDs) regressions assessed the relationship between religious beliefs and these mental health indicators, adjusting for age, gender, income, education level, and employment status. Variables representing SUDs were included as covariates in the models that tested the association between importance of religious beliefs and the dependent variables of PD and MDE, while PD was included as a covariate in the models with alcohol and other SUDs as the dependent variables. Regression weights and standard errors were adjusted to account for sampling probabilities and the multi-stage sampling design of the NSDUH survey.   

Results. Religious beliefs were significantly associated with lower levels of PD (b= -0.16, p <0.01; 95% CI = -0.26 -  -0.06) and lower odds of alcohol abuse (AOR= 0.90, p <0.05; 95% CI = 0.82 - 0.98).  There was no significant association with MDE, alcohol dependence, or other SUDs.

Conclusions & Implications. As the Latino population in the U.S. increases, so too does the importance of addressing their mental health and SUD needs. This study is among the first to use a multi-year national sample of Latinos to explore the impact of religious beliefs on mental health and substance use. While the importance of religious beliefs was not a significant predictor across all outcomes, the findings still suggest that religious beliefs may promote positive mental health outcomes among Latino adults generally. Considering that attributing a high level of importance to religious beliefs was found to protect against heightened levels of PD and alcohol abuse, mental health and alcohol abuse prevention and intervention programs would benefit from recognizing the role of religion as a protective factor and culturally relevant treatment asset.